In Florida, ambivalence about Crist

By Alexander Burns

09/04/12 08:17 AM EDT

Maggie and I report on this week's Charlie Crist relaunch and the mixed feelings it's stirring among Florida Democrats:

Even if Crist is undecided about a gubernatorial run, his speech in Charlotte — his exact slot hasn’t been announced — will mark the start of a campaign for renewed political relevance. While Democrats are delighted to have Crist on their side in the presidential race, there’s considerably more ambivalence among his fellow Floridians about whether they want him as their statewide standard-bearer. And there’s real reluctance to talk about the onetime self-described “pro-gun, pro-life, anti-tax Republican” as anything but a booster for the president.

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said Crist will talk in his speech about how Obama “made decisions that were hard but right” in order to save the U.S. economy. But she declined to go any further in speculating about Crist’s future: “I’m focused on the next 64 days and reelecting President Obama and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, … I’m not worried about the gubernatorial election in 2014.”

She wasn’t the only Florida Democrat to take that line.

“If you’re asking me was I surprised that Gov. Crist came out against the Republicans’ ticket? No. If you’re asking me have I engaged it any further than that? No,” said Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith. “I’m not surprised a lot of Republicans and independents would come out against this Republican ticket.”

As for putting up Crist for governor, Smith quipped: “I was raised a Baptist, and if you want to leave your church and join our congregation, that’s fine with us. That doesn’t mean we necessarily make you minister.”

Former Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, the party’s 2010 nominee for governor, said Crist could help Obama win over “independent-minded voters, and Charlie Crist has decided the Republican Party’s become too extreme for him.”

“If he were to run for office, there’d be a lot of explaining to do,” said Sink, who hasn’t ruled out another run for governor herself. “Once we get past November, [the governor’s race] is a 24-month process. By the time we get to a Democratic primary, there will have been plenty of time to vet all the candidates and listen to their message.”

Other Democrats, like Dan Gelber and Robert Wexler, had a more upbeat and even enthusiastic take on Crist, and Florida Democrats' limited options for 2014 mean there's certainly a path for Crist to win a primary. The best-case scenario for him, if he runs for the Democratic nomination, would be a field of several primary opponents but no single anti-Crist candidate -- or, as several Florida Dems put it, basically the Mitt Romney route through his own party's primary.